Unnatural.

Our cat Toby developed some digestive troubles last spring. We thought it was because he was drinking milk out of cereal bowls left on the table -- something he had never done before but which clearly upset his stomach. So we tried to be very careful about clearing the table immediately, and otherwise keeping people food out of his reach.

It didn't seem to help, and things went from bad to worse. Finally I took him to the vet to see if there was something that might help. The children went with me, and found the whole experience interesting, especially when the vet took Toby's temperature. Oh, my! Various tests were run, and while nothing seemed conclusive, the vet thought that Toby might have a bacterial overgrowth that could be helped with antibiotics. He also suggested that we feed him a couple of ounces of yogurt several times a week.

That night at dinner we were all telling Dean about the visit to the vet: the scale, the wait (45 minutes!!!), the pictures on the ceiling of the exam room, the rectal thermometer, the pictures of the vet's family on the walls, etc. "The vet said we should give him yogurt," I said.

Charlotte looked up, horrified. "But we told him NO," she said, holding her hand up in the STOP position.

She hadn't said a word about it in the vet's office -- maybe she wasn't listening -- but she was really upset at the thought of giving Toby people food. Later in the conversation she suggested, "We not go to that vet again." She was so bothered that I gave Toby the yogurt only after she went to bed.

Two months later Toby is flourishing. The yogurt has worked wonders. But Charlotte still has her doubts.

This one's for Dean ...

... who wonders where our summer went.

The kids made a lot of stuff.

There was a parade.

We swam a lot. (Thanks, Andy & Amy.)

The kids had summer school, together.

We went to the Wild West.

We live in Camelot.

A firetruck came to our house.

It rained a lot.

And school started.

Details to follow.